Chiropractic: Green Healthcare!

Are you “going green”? In addition to changing your every day habits and personal usage for things such as light bulbs, water, and the car you drive, there is another aspect of your life that can increase your carbon footprint: you health care!
While many of us have considered our vehicles, homes, appliances, and light bulbs in our efforts to do our part, many have not thought about going green with healthcare options. The perfect answer for all your green health care needs: ReAlign Chiropractic! Chiropractors, such as those at ReAlign, support natural healing. They see their patients as human beings. Rather than turn to chemical intervention and scalpels, they teach their patients to be in harmony with the elements of healing. Your body has the immense capacity to heal itself and function properly, if it is properly aligned and allowed to function. Just like how solar power is renewable, your body’s natural resources are renewable too- feed it right, get it adjusted regularly, exercise, and for the most part, it knows what to do and how to do it. Think of what happens when you get a cut on your finger: automatically, your body sends white blood cells to the area and they start fighting any chance of infection, and red blood cells start repairing the damage. Your body does this automatically; your nervous system sends signals out to get those blood cell soldiers out onto the front lines. However, if there’s something interfering with that message, it might not work as well. Chiropractors locate any interference and remove it. That’s it. For the most part
Some research suggests that in healthcare, our world has been “over-cleaned” with antiseptics, harming our immune responses and creating super bugs like MRSA. Over-prescribing antibiotics has led to drug- resistant organisms, turning what was once a simple and easy-to-fix infection into something that can actually kill people. The more you build up your immune systems response to
Additional ecological impacts made by traditional healthcare include water pollution, as a result of pharmaceutical products leaking into our earth and ground water. Additionally, many health-care practices and packing materials for medications create waste that clogs our landfills. The process of putting health-care products on the market can also lead to an excessive carbon footprint. Think of all the ads you see in a regular magazine- that’s a lot of paper products, dyes, and paperwork!
Currently, ReAlign Chiropractic is working on becoming a Green America certified business. This means that we’re working with green certification boards to be recognized for our environmental sustainability and focus on ‘green’ health care, in addition to all the other great things we do while healing patients and improving lives. If you’re interested in seeing what green healthcare can do for you, give our office a call at 773-665-4400.

MoJo Pages #1 Chicago Chiropractor!

We're currently nominated for the BEST Chicago Chiropractor on MoJo Pages dot com. Please vote for us! Some of our awesome patients have already voted and left reviews, and we are so thankful for their support. 

http://mojo.myfoxchicago.com/biz/georgiou-peter-dc-ccsp/chicago/il/60657/2558550

Chicago Colds & the Flu: ReAlign Chiropractic Has Got Your Back!

It's that time of year again, where everyone starts to fear the first sign of the sniffles or a mild sore throat. Many patients often ask what they can do to protect themselves from getting the cold or the flu. ReAlign Chiropractic feels the best treatment is prevention & good health, by getting adjusted regularly, and by getting enough sunshine & vitamin D!

One of the best ways to prevent yourself from getting sick is to simply get enough vitamin D. Ideally, you would do this by getting outside and soaking up the sunshine, but for most of us during the cold Chicago winter, sunshine is not an option. This is why getting sick is more prevalent in the winter. To prevent colds & the flu, children need 2,000 IU of Vitamin D every day. Adults need between 4-5,000 IU’s of Vitamin D every day. You can get this through supplements. 

In addition to making sure your vitamin D levels are in the optimal range, the following tips are surefire ways to improve the function of your immune system and greatly reduce your chances of getting sick this winter:

Avoid sugar- germs love sugar! They eat the sugar that we eat, and it makes them grow big and strong. Don't feed the germs!

Get plenty of sleep- your body needs its time to rest and repair.

Exercise regularly- we know this is a basic component of health.

Eat garlic regularly- it's nature's best antibiotic!

Support yourself during stressful times- stress wreaks havoc on your immune system.

Have your spine checked and get adjusted as needed- 

So, how do you not get sick? Well, a better, non-rhetorical, question is, “Should you seek pro-active alternative methods for staying healthy?” The answer here is a resounding YES! We know nobody wants to suffer through the cold and the flu this winter season, or any season for that matter. You should act now in order to prevent any sickness. If you already have cold/flu symptoms, take action to return to optimal health quickly. If you have any questions about which treatment you should use, contact ReAlign Chiropractic at 773-665-4400.

Website Revamp!

So we're in the process of revamping our website.....Check back for updates!

One of the newest additions we've made is our new patient special online offer. For $49.95, you will get the first two appointment in our office- this includes your consultation, examination, one set of x-rays and a report of findings.

Check it out right here! Chicago Chiropractor

Chiropractor Shows The Best Way To Sleep

Can You Be Your Own Chiropractor?

At least once a month I get a question from a patient asking some version of “Why can’t I just adjust myself?” And more often, I have patients that regularly do adjust themselves, particular grabbing their own head or neck and performing a maneuver that gives them a bunch of “cracks” and makes them feel like they’ve done something good.

There are probably more reasons than what I’ll list here, but the answer is “no” you can’t be your own chiropractor. You can be your own mechanic (to a point), you can be your own handyman (to a point), you might even be your own doctor at times, but you leave the more specific and more complicated tasks to the experts.

Getting a spinal adjustment is one of those complicated things that doesn’t seem so complicated on the surface. What is it that the chiropractor is really doing? Why do I need to have a chiropractic adjustment, what’s wrong with just twisting my own neck?

I think you’ll agree that if you are trying to move your spine, you have determined that it is either not moving or it has moved out of place, right? If it can go the wrong direction and cause pain and discomfort, then it makes sense that if you move it further out of place you can make it worse. So… how do you know which way to move your vertebrae? The move that I see being performed is a “move everything and hope I get the right one at some point.”

Each vertebrae can move up to sixteen different directions. Do you know which way your vertebra has gone? That’s where the chiropractor comes in. They are trained to determined which way the bone has moved and how to move it back into the correct place. Some of the directions are extremely difficult to accomplish on your own. Chiropractors don’t adjust themselves either!

The same principle that applies to adjusting yourself also goes for having someone “bear hug” you at a family gathering and having your kids walk on your back. It’s just not specific and the person performing the “therapy” has no way of knowing which part of your spine needs to be adjusted.

The next question is “If I can’t adjust myself, why does it feel better when I do it?”

You’ll notice that when you do it, the good feeling doesn’t last long. That’s why you keep doing it over and over again during the day. You still get the endorphin release, so you’ll temporarily get a influx of pain relief that makes you think you’ve done something good for yourself. However, you’ve more likely either moved something the wrong way or moved a different bone than the one that needs it. The pain and discomfort returns once the endorphins are gone and you’re back to where you started.

In summary, you cannot be your own chiropractor. I know it can seem like a simple thing, but chiropractors are the experts at finding the right area of your spine to be adjusted and then moving it back the right way. See the experts!

Take Charge Of Your Health!

Most health problems can be avoided. Many of the problems we deal with every day didn’t have to be there at all, if we were willing to take a good hard look at ourselves and decide to be healthy.

The first question is, do you think your body wants to be healthy or do you think you have to medicate it into being “healthy?” An easy example is if you get a cut on your skin. You know that the bandage doesn’t heal the cut, your body does. It just knows that it needs to heal that area and it gets to work. If you are a healthy person, the cut will likely heal much faster than if you are unhealthy.

I see this in my practice every day. I’m a chiropractor and we work with aligning the spine to improve the patient’s health. In order for the spine to stay in its proper position, the muscles will need to work with us. The health of the muscles will determine how fast the patient gets results.

Too many people are in pain, come in and get treatment, just to find that the results take much longer than they thought they would. Then I see patients in moderately good health that bounce back much faster than expected. The patient that consistently makes more healthy choices will get better faster than the patient that doesn’t. Period.

So how do you avoid most health problems and stay healthy? There’s not a lot of mystery to it, believe me. I’ve tried, probably just like you, to find any other new possible way to get healthy other than what has been tried and true.

1. Eat right – What does this mean? Fruits and vegetables, you know, all the stuff you don’t want to eat. If you look at your health as just the results of what you’ve been doing so far, this will help in your motivation. Eliminating one bad food at a time and replacing it with something healthy will go a long way. Maybe no more sodas, instead you’ll be drinking water. Replacing green tea for coffee, or reducing your sugar intake.

Continue to make these better choices and eventually you’ll see a big difference in how you feel. Many conditions are the result of long term diet issues. If you eat poorly, you don’t give your body any materials to maintain your health.

2. Exercise – Don’t start your new exercise program by opening up your front door and running 10 miles. Find some ways to build momentum in your exercise program. Take a walk, go play catch with your child (or even your dog), or get a bike and start doing laps around your block. Find a way to get started and go from there.

Exercise will improve the tone of your muscles, make you stronger, and most importantly, will help you deal with stress. Stress is a huge factor in your health.

It all sounds to easy, right? It’s not easy. Staying consistent with these elements of your goal to get healthy will yield plenty of benefits, just figure out your best way of sticking with it. I’ve found that adding in (or taking out) one thing at a time will make all the difference. You won’t lose fifty pounds in six weeks, but whatever you do lose will stay gone. Over the long-term, that’s what will make all the difference in your health. Take charge of your health!